System and method of presenting media content

ABSTRACT

A method of presenting media content includes receiving a command to present multiple image cells to a first device of a first user after an alert is sent to a second device associated with the first user. The method also includes sending a first view including multiple image cells to the first device of the first user, where at least one cell of the multiple image cells includes an image. The method further includes automatically collecting a second image from a third party website and sending a second view to the first device. The second view includes the multiple image cells having the image and includes the second image.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from and is a continuation ofpatent application Ser. No. 11/726,369, filed Mar. 21, 2007, issued asU.S. Pat. No. 7,917,853, and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PRESENTINGMEDIA CONTENT,” the content of which is expressly incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is generally related to systems and methods ofpresenting media content.

BACKGROUND

Currently, websites are available for users to share media content, suchas photos, audio clips, or video clips with other users. Such websitesmay allow a user to upload pictures to a user designated portion of thewebsite. A user may also send an email announcement to notify otherusers that the pictures have been uploaded. The process of firstuploading a set of pictures and then subsequently sending out an emailto a list of recipients can be time consuming and inefficient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of asystem to present media content;

FIG. 2 is block diagram of a second particular illustrative embodimentof a system to present media content;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a third particular illustrative embodimentof a system to present media content;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a particular illustrative embodiment of amethod of presenting media content;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a second particular illustrative embodiment ofa method of presenting media content;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a third particular illustrative embodimentof a method of presenting media content;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a fourth particular illustrative embodimentof a method of presenting media content;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a fifth particular illustrative embodimentof a method of presenting media content;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a sixth particular illustrative embodimentof a method of presenting media content;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a seventh particular illustrativeembodiment of a method of presenting media content;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment agraphical user interface to present media content;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a second particular illustrativeembodiment of a graphical user interface to present media content;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a system to provide an alert notificationrelated to presented media content; and

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a computingsystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In a particular embodiment, a method of presenting media contentincludes receiving a command to present multiple image cells to a firstdevice of a first user after an alert is sent to a second deviceassociated with the first user. The method also includes sending a firstview including multiple image cells to the first device of the firstuser, where at least one cell of the multiple image cells includes animage. The method further includes automatically collecting a secondimage from a third party website and sending a second view to the firstdevice. The second view includes the multiple image cells and includesthe second image.

In another particular embodiment, a method of presenting media contentincludes sending a first graphical user interface (GUI) from a server toa first device of a first user. The first GUI receives one or moreidentifiers of one or more other users of a social network. The methodalso includes automatically collecting data related to available mediacontent from a selected third party website and sending an alert fromthe server to a second device associated with the first user whenupdated media content is available. The method further includesgenerating, at the server, a second GUI including multiple image cells,where at least one of the multiple image cells includes an image relatedto the updated media content.

In still another particular embodiment, a non-transitoryprocessor-readable medium includes instructions executable by aprocessor to generate a graphical user interface (GUI) to present mediacontent to a display device associated with a first user. The GUIincludes multiple selectable cells arranged in at least two rows, wherea first row includes images related to media content of the first user,and where each additional row includes images related to media contentfrom a source other than the first user.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of asystem 100 to present media content. The system 100 includes a userdevice 104 that can communicate with a server 102 via a network 110. Theuser device 104 may serve as a destination device and may be implementedas any device or system that includes computer functionality, such as aset top box, a personal computer with browser, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a web-enabled mobile device, such as a smart phone, orany other similar device having access to the server 102. The server 102may communicate with other servers, such as a server 106 and a server108 via the network 110. The server 102 includes logic (such asprocessor 114) and a memory 112 that is accessible to the processor 114.The server 102 also includes a network interface 116 that is responsiveto the network 110 to send and receive data. In a particularillustrative embodiment, the network 110 may be a public network, suchas the Internet.

The memory 112 includes a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) module 118, anRSS aggregator module 120, media content storage 122, first user accountinformation 124, and a graphical user interface (GUI) generator module126. The RSS module 118 can be executed by the processor 114 to receiverequests from users to subscribe to media content (i.e. subscribers) andto share new media content with such subscribers. The RSS aggregatormodule 120 can be executed by the processor 114 to aggregate new mediacontent from the server 102 or new media content received via RSS feedsfrom other servers, such as the servers 106 and 108. The server 102 maystore the aggregated media content in a media content storage 122. TheGUI generator module 126 is executable by the processor to generate agraphical user interface including multiple image cells, including thenew media content and media content related to the first user account124. In a particular illustrative embodiment, the multiple image cellsmay be arranged as a matrix or table having multiple image cells.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, a first user may utilize theuser device 104 to access the server 102 and to upload media content,such as digital pictures, audio data, video data, or any combinationthereof. The server 102 may store the uploaded media content at themedia content storage 122. The server 102 may associate the uploaded(new) media content with the first user account 124 and may utilize theRSS module 118 to generate an RSS document (which may include extensiblemarkup language (XML), hypertext markup language (HTML), images, audiodata, video data, text, or any combination thereof) that is related tothe new media content. The server 102 may provide the RSS document at aparticular location, such as a publicly available website location. RSSaggregators, such as the RSS aggregator 120, can use the RSS document toaccess information about the new media content. By generating the RSSdocument, the server 102 “syndicates” the media content for access byvarious subscribers.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the first user may utilize theuser device 104 to access the server 102 via the network 110. The firstuser may configure the first user account 124 to include subscriptionsto information hosted by one or more other servers, such as the servers106 and 108. For example, the first user may subscribe to media contentassociated with a second user account that is hosted by the server 106and to media content associated with a third user account that is hostedby the server 108. The server 102 may utilize the RSS aggregator module120 to monitor RSS feeds produced by the servers 106 and 108. When theRSS aggregator module 120 identifies new media content, the RSSaggregator module 120 may be utilized to retrieve data (such as animage) related to the new media content and to aggregate the retrieveddata with existing data in the media content storage 122.

The server 102 may utilize the GUI generator 126 to generate a graphicaluser interface including a multiple image cells, where each cellincludes data related to particular media content. The GUI generator 126may replace an oldest item within the multiple image cells with theretrieved data, and the server 102 may move the oldest item to anarchive (not shown).

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the server 102 may utilize theprocessor 114 to execute an alert generator 128 to generate and transmitan alert to the user device 104 that is associated with the first useraccount 124 when there is updated media content. In a particularillustrative embodiment, the updated media content may include digitalimages, audio data, video data, text data, or any combination thereof,that may be uploaded by the second user or another user associated witha social network of the first user. For example, the first user may wantto view media content that is uploaded to a web server by any person inhis social network, such as friends and family. Since members of thesocial network may not update their website frequently, the first usermay wish to be notified when new media content is available, so that thefirst user can view the new media content. In a particular illustrativeembodiment, the alert generator 128 may generate a notification in oneor more formats, such as an email notification, a pop up notification, avoicemail message notification, a text message notification, an instantmessage notification, other types of notification, or any combinationthereof.

FIG. 2 is block diagram of a second particular illustrative embodimentof a system 200 to present media content. The system 200 includes acontent management system 202 that can communicate with a first userdevice 204, a second user device 206 and a third user device 208 via anetwork 210, such as the public Internet. Additionally, the contentmanagement system 202 may communicate with other websites 212 via thenetwork 210. The content management system 202 includes a processor 216and a memory 214 that is accessible to the processor 216. Additionally,the content management system 202 includes a network interface 218 thatis responsive to the network 210.

The memory 214 may include a user account data storage 220, a socialnetwork data storage 222, a content monitoring module 224, a contentaggregating module 226, and a graphical user interface (GUI) generatormodule 228. The content monitoring module 224 can be executed by theprocessor 216 to monitor media content at specified locations toidentify new media content. The content aggregating module 226 can beexecuted by the processor 216 to aggregate the identified new mediacontent with media content associated with a user account of the firstuser. The GUI generator 228 can be executed by the processor 216 togenerate a graphical user interface including multiple image cells. Eachcell may include data related to particular media content.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, a first user, a second user anda third user may have respective user accounts hosted by the contentmanagement system 202. The first user may utilize the first user device204 to access an associated user account at the content managementsystem 202 via the network 210. In a particular illustrative embodiment,the content management system 202 may utilize the GUI generator 228 toproduce a graphical user interface to receive information related tosharing of media content associated with the first user and informationrelated to retrieval of media content related to other users. The firstuser may configure the associated user account information via thegraphical user interface to add the second user and the third user to asocial network of the first user.

The content management system 202 may receive the user input and storethe social network information in the social network data storage 222,which is associated with the user account data 220 of the first useraccount. The content management system 202 may monitor media contentassociated with the second and third users to identify new mediacontent. Additionally, the content management system 202 may aggregatethe new media content with existing the media content based on the useraccount information and the social network information. In a particularillustrative embodiment, the processor 216 may execute the GUI generatormodule 228 to produce a graphical user interface that includes multipleimage cells, where each cell includes media content associated with thefirst user, the second user, and the third user. The content managementsystem 202 may utilize the content aggregating module 226 to generate adocument (such as a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) document) or analert to other subscribers, such as the second user and the third user,to notify the second and third users of the new media content.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the content management system202 may monitor and access media content of the second user at athird-party website, such as one of the websites 212, via the network210. In another particular illustrative embodiment, the contentmanagement system 202 may aggregate media content from one or morewebsites 212 via the network 210. In still another particularembodiment, the content management system 202 may monitor multiplesocial networks for the first user. Additionally, the content managementsystem 202 may monitor one or more social networks for other users, suchas the second and third users.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a third particular illustrative embodimentof a system 300 to present media content. The system 300 includes aset-top box device 306 that can communicate with one or more contentsources 302 via a network 304. The set-top box device 306 maycommunication with a remote control device 310 to receive input.Additionally, the set-top box device 306 may provide media content to adisplay device 308. Further, the set-top box device 306 may communicatewith one or more computing devices, such as the computing device 326 viaa local area network 324.

The set-top box device 306 includes a network interface 312 that isresponsive to the network 304 to send and receive data. The set-top boxdevice 306 also includes a processor 314 and a memory 316 that isaccessible to the processor 314. Additionally, the set-top box device306 includes a remote interface 318 that is responsive to the remotecontrol device 310 and a display interface 320 that communicates audioand video to the display device 308, such as a television. The set-topbox device 306 also includes a network interface 322 that is responsiveto the local area network 324. In a particular illustrative embodiment,the network interface 322 may include a wireless transceiver to send andreceive data to and from the computing device 326.

The memory 316 includes social network data 328 including one or moreidentifiers of one or more other users forming a social networkassociated with a user account, where each identifier within the socialnetwork is associated a website accessible to a particular user. Thememory 316 also includes a content monitoring module 330 executable bythe processor 314 to monitor media content at the media contentlocations, identified within the social network data 328, to identifynew media content. The memory 316 further includes a content aggregatingmodule 332 executable by the processor 314 to collect data related tothe media content from a selected third party website and to aggregatethe collected data with existing data within multiple image cells. Thememory 316 also includes a GUI generator module 334 that is executableby the processor 314 to generate a graphical user interface includingthe multiple image cells.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the multiple image cells mayinclude multiple selectable cells arranged according to a preference ofa first user. A first cell of the multiple image cells may include animage related to media content from the first user. The multiple imagecells may also include a selectable cell having an image that is relatedto media content of a coerce other than the first user. In a particularillustrative embodiment, an input indicating a selection of theselectable cell causes the set-top box device 306 to generate a displaywindow that includes the media content associated with the source. In aparticular illustrative non-limiting embodiment, an input indicating aselection may be provided by right-clicking on a cell of the multipleselectable cells, causing the set-top box device 306 to generate asecond display window to display a configuration menu.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the set-top box device 306 maymonitor the media content from one or more sources using the contentmonitoring module 330 to identify updated or new media content, maycollect data related to the media content, and may aggregate the datawithin the multiple image cells using the content aggregating module332. Additionally, the set-top box device 306 may generate a graphicaluser interface using the GUI generator 334. In a particular illustrativeembodiment, the set-top box device 306 may provide an alert to thedisplay device 308 via the display interface 320, such as a pop up, aselectable indicator, or any combination thereof, to notify a viewerthat media content is available from a member of the user's socialnetwork. The set-top box device 306 may receive an input related to thealert via the remote control device 310 and may display multiple imagecells on the display device 308 in response to receiving the input. Inanother particular illustrative embodiment, the set-top box device 306may provide the graphical user interface to the computing device 326 viathe local area network 324. The computing device 326 may be a portablecomputer, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), awireless phone, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a particular illustrative embodiment of amethod of presenting media content. At 402, a content management systemprovides a first view including multiple image cells to a destinationdevice of a first user, where at least one cell of the multiple imagecells includes an image. In a particular illustrative embodiment, thecontent management system may be a webserver, a content source, or anycombination thereof. Moving to 404, the content management systemautomatically collects a second image from a third party websiteassociated with a second user. Advancing to 406, the content managementsystem provides a second view to the destination device, where thesecond view includes the multiple image cells having the image andincludes the second image. Proceeding to 408, the content managementsystem receives permission of the first user before inserting the secondimage into one of the multiple image cells of the second view. Themethod terminates at 410.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the content management systemmay be implemented such that it does not wait for permission of thefirst user before inserting the second image into one of the multipleimage cells. In that instance, the method at 408 may be replaced suchthat the second image may be inserted into one of the multiple imagecells automatically upon collection. In another particular illustrativeembodiment, the multiple image cells are arranged in date order. Instill another particular embodiment, the multiple image cells may bearranged in a matrix or table having rows and columns of image cells,where each row is associated with a web site location. In still anotherparticular illustrative embodiment, the method may also includeautomatically collecting a third image from a website associated with athird user and providing a third view to the destination device, wherethe third view includes the multiple image cells having the image, thesecond image, and the third image.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a second particular illustrative embodiment ofa method of presenting media content. At 502, a content managementsystem (such as a webserver, a content source, or any combinationthereof) provides a first graphical user interface (GUI) to adestination device, where the first GUI receives one or more identifiersof one or more other users defining a social network associated with auser account. Each of the identifiers within the social network may beassociated with one or more websites accessible to the one or more otherusers. Proceeding to 504, the content management system automaticallycollects data related to media content from a selected third partywebsite. Advancing to 506, the content management system generates asecond GUI including multiple image cells, where at least one cell ofthe multiple image cells includes an image related to the collected dataor to the media content. Moving to 508, the content management systemprovides the second GUI to the destination device. The method terminatesat 510.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the data may be an image thatis associated with a link to a particular uniform resource locator(URL), which may point to an audio file, a video file, a multimediastream, a digital image, text, or any combination thereof. In aparticular illustrative embodiment, the social network includes a firstuser associated with the destination device and a second user associatedwith at least one of the one or more websites. In a particularillustrative, non-limiting example, the multiple image cells arearranged in date order, in a user-specified order, in alphabeticalorder, in another order, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a third particular illustrative embodiment ofa method of presenting media content. At 602, a content managementsystem provides a graphical user interface to a destination device,where the graphical user interface includes input options to receivesyndication information related to sharing of media content from a firstuser and subscription information related to retrieval of media contentfrom a source other than the first user. In a particular illustrativeembodiment, the content management system may be a web server, a contentsource, a set-top box device, or any combination thereof. Advancing to604, the content management system receives an input related to thesyndication information and to the subscription information. Proceedingto 606, the content management system syndicates updates of the mediacontent associated with the first user to the other users. In aparticular illustrative embodiment, the content management system“syndicates” by generating a document that includes the updatedinformation. The generated document may be sent to subscriber devices ormay be posted at a website location for retrieval by or on behalf ofother users. Continuing to 608, the content management system aggregatesupdates related to the media content associated with the other userswith the media content of the first user based on the subscriptioninformation. In a particular illustrative embodiment, the contentmanagement system may collect an image from a third party websiteassociated with another user, who may be a member of a social networkassociated with the first user. Proceeding to 610, the contentmanagement system generates a graphical user interface includingmultiple image cells, where at least one of the image cells includesdata or media content from a third party website (or a source)associated with a user other than the first user. Advancing to 612, thecontent management system provides the graphical user interface to adestination device that is associated with the first user. The methodterminates at 614.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, each image cell may include aselectable indicator, such as an icon, an image, other data, or anycombination thereof, that is related to the media content. In anotherparticular illustrative embodiment, the graphical user interface mayinclude a menu to configure selected cells. In still another particularillustrative embodiment, a user account may include an association witha social network, which may be formed from one or more identifiers thatare associated with one or more other users, where each identifierwithin the social network is associated with one or more websitesaccessible to the one or more other users. In a particular embodiment,each user may create multiple social networks, and each user account maybe associated with any number of social networks. In an embodiment, themedia content may include an image, video data, audio data, text data,or any combination thereof. In a particular illustrative embodiment, thedata within a particular image cell may represent the particular type ofmedia content. For example, a digital photograph may be represented by athumbnail (reduced size) version of the digital photograph.Alternatively, the audio data may be represented by an audio icon, suchas an audio speaker, an ear, a word bubble, another visual indicator, orany combination thereof. In another particular illustrative example, thevideo data may be represented by an icon (such as an image of a videocamera, a television set, another indicator, or any combinationthereof), by a frame selected from the video, by another object, or anycombination thereof.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the content management systemmay aggregate the updates by collecting an image or associated data froma selected third party website. The content management system may insertthe collected image into a selected image cell of a graphical userinterface that includes multiple image cells. The image may be insertedinto the multiple image cells by shifting existing image content withinthe multiple image cells to make room for the update image and byinserting the update image into an open cell. In a particularillustrative embodiment, the multiple image cells may be arranged toform a matrix or table having multiple cells, and the content managementsystem may shift data from left to right and from top to bottom withinthe multiple image cells. For example, in a particular illustrativeexample, a 4×4 matrix of image cells may include 16 images associatedwith particular media content. When media content is added, the contentsof the matrix of image cells may be shifted from left to right and fromtop to bottom to provide an empty cell in an upper left corner forinsertion of the media content. During such a shift operation, thecontents of a last cell in a lower right corner of the multiple imagecells may be pushed out. In a particular illustrative example, thecontents of the last cell may be shifted to an image archive. Ingeneral, the above-examples are intended for illustrative purposes only.In particular embodiments, the images may shifted and added in otherarrangements.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a fourth particular illustrative embodiment ofa method of presenting media content. At 702, a content managementsystem (such as a set-top box device, a web server, a network system,another device, or any combination thereof) can monitor a social networkof users associated with a user account to identify new media content,where new media content represents media content that has been updatedat a website associated with the social network. Advancing to 704, thecontent management system retrieves data related to the new mediacontent in response to identifying the new media content. Proceeding to706, the content management system automatically replaces content of aselected image cell of multiple image cells with the data. Moving to708, the content management system generates a graphical user interfacethat includes the multiple image cells having the data. Continuing to710, the content management system provides the graphical user interfaceto a destination device. The method terminates at 712.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the destination device may be aremotely located computing device, a local computing device, atelevision display, a storage device, or any combination thereof. Inanother particular illustrative embodiment, the data comprises an imagerelated to the new media content. In still another particularillustrative embodiment, the content management system may receive aninput related to a selected cell of the multiple cells and may provide amenu to configure the selected cell in response to receiving the input.In a particular illustrative embodiment, the input is a selection tofreeze content associated with the selected cell to prohibit automaticreplacement. In a particular embodiment, “freezing” the content of acell may lock the cell content, such that shifting of image content withthe multiple image cells may occur with respect to adjacent cells, butwithout changing the content of the particular cell. In a particularillustrative embodiment, automatically replacing a selected item mayinclude determining a cell of the multiple cells that has an oldestmodification date, moving the content from the cell to a data archive,and adding the data to the cell.

In yet another particular illustrative embodiment, the contentmanagement system may insert a selectable indicator within a videostream at a display device (such as a television, a liquid crystaldisplay, a monitor, another display device, or any combination thereof),where the selectable indicator relates to the identification of theupdated media content from a source other than a user of the contentmanagement system. In response to receiving an input related to theselectable indicator, the content management system can provide agraphical user interface including multiple image cells having theupdated media content to the display device.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a fifth particular illustrative embodimentof a method of presenting media content. At 802, a content managementsystem receives digital content (e.g., a picture, an audio file, a videofile, text, or any combination thereof) from a device associated with auser. Proceeding to 804, the content management system 804 identifies asubscriber account associated with the user based on a deviceidentifier, a phone number, an email address, a username and password,or any combination thereof. Moving to 806, the content management systemidentifies one or more social networks associated with the subscriberaccount. Advancing to 808, the content management system uploads thedigital content to at least one cell of multiple image cells associatedwith other users that belong to the identified social networks byreplacing oldest content of a selected cell in each of the multipleimage cells with the digital content. In a particular illustrativeembodiment, the content management system may generate an updatedocument (such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS) document). Thedocument may be published to a pre-defined Internet location or may besent to subscribers to notify subscribers of the updated media content.Continuing to 810, the content management system generates alerts tonotify the other users of the uploaded digital content. The methodterminates at 812.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a sixth particular illustrative embodimentof a method of presenting media content. At 902, the content managementsystem receives a media content update from a site associated with asocial network of a user. Proceeding to 904, the content managementsystem receives an advertisement from an advertising system. Advancingto 906, the content management system aggregates the media content andthe advertisement with existing content in respective cells of multipleimage cells. Moving to 908, the content management system generates agraphical user interface including the multiple image cells. Continuingto 910, the content management system provides the graphical userinterface to a destination device associated with the user. The methodterminates at 912.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the advertisement may includean image that is selectable to direct the user to a website of aparticular product or service. The image may be placed within themultiple image cells such that the picture is not distinguishable fromthe existing media content. In a particular illustrative embodiment, theadvertisement may be selected as a targeted advertisement base doninformation about the user, based on user preferences, based on othercharacteristics of the user, or any combination thereof. In a particularillustrative embodiment, the advertisement may be displayed within themultiple image cells as an overlay to an existing indicator. Forexample, in a particular illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, anadvertising picture may overlay a particular cell of the multiple imagecells within the graphical user interface, such that the advertisementprevents viewing of the underlying image until the user selects theadvertisement.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram 1000 of a seventh particular illustrativeembodiment of a method of presenting media content. The flow diagram1000 includes multiple image cells 1002, such as a first cell 1006. Whennew media content is identified, the content management system mayreceive data, such as a thumbnail image 1004, that is related to the newmedia content. The content management system may shift media content ina first row 1008 from left to right to open up the first cell 1006 forinsertion of the thumbnail image 1004. Media content from a last cell ofthe first row 1008 may be shifted into a first cell of a second row1010, and from the last cells of the second and third rows 1010 and 1012to the first cells of the third and fourth rows 1012 and 1014,respectively. Media content of the last cell of the fourth row 1014 maybe shifted out of the multiple image cells 1002 to an archive, asindicated at 1016.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, data may be organized withinthe multiple image cells 1002 in a date order, such that the newest itemis included in the first cell 1006 and such that the last cell of thefourth row 1014 of the multiple image cells 1002 includes the oldestdata. In this context, the date associated with particular content of acell may be a date when the content was added to a particular cell ofthe multiple image cells. In an alternative embodiment, each row 1008,1010, 1012, and 1014 may be assigned to a different content source (i.e.a different network address). In this example, each row may containimages that are related to a particular member of the user's socialnetwork. For example, the first row 1008 may be assigned to a locationassociated with the user's friend, Jim, and the second row 1010 may beassigned to a location associated with the user's sister, Mary. In thisexample, the new thumbnail image 1004 is inserted in a first row, sincethe first row is assigned to a user associated with the image 1004.Additionally, when the media content is shifted from left to right,media content from the last cell of the first row 1008 may be removedfrom the multiple image cells and stored in an archive. The other imagecontent of the second row 1010, the third row 1012, and the fourth row1014 would remain unchanged.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment agraphical user interface 1100 for presenting media content, which may beaccessed via a web browser executed on a device of the user. Thegraphical user interface includes a window 1102 including multipleselectable image cells 1104 arranged according to a preference of afirst user. Each selectable cell of the multiple selectable image cells1104 includes an image related to media content from the first user orfrom a source other than the first user. A first selection of aselectable cell, such as the cell 1106, causes a first display window todisplay the media content associated with the source. A second selectionof the selectable cell 1106 causes a configuration menu 1108 to bedisplayed.

The configuration menu 1108 provides access to a display window toconfigure the multiple image cells 1104. The menu 1108 includes a“Freeze Image” option 1110 to freeze the particular image so that mediacontent updates do not shift, replace or remove the contents of theselected cell 1106. The menu 1108 also includes an “Assign Row toParticular User” option 1112 that allows the user to configure themultiple image cells 1102 such that each row relates to a particularcontent source (e.g., a particular member of the user's social network,a particular network location, a particular website, or any combinationthereof). Additionally, the menu 1108 includes a “Delete Image” option1114 to allow the user to delete the selected image from the multipleselectable image cells 1104.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the menu 1108 may be accessedby right clicking on the selected image 1106 using a pointer device(such as a computer mouse, a track pad, a track ball, or other anotherpointer) or by holding down a keyboard key (such as a control key) whileclicking on the selected image 1106 using the pointer device. In anotherparticular illustrative embodiment, the menu 1108 may be accessed viabuttons, links, pull down menu items, or any combination thereof withinthe window 1102.

In another particular illustrative embodiment, a user may configure themultiple selectable image cells 1104 such that each row contains imagesfrom a different set of multiple image cells associated with the user.In this example, each row of the set of multiple selectable image cells1104 may be assigned to a location associated with another particularset of multiple selectable image cells, rather than to a locationassociated with a particular user. In a particular illustrative example,a first user may configure the system to aggregate images from multiplesources to three different sets of multiple selectable images (i.e.school friends, sports friends, and work friends, for example). Thefirst user may configure the system to collect images from the threedifferent sets of multiple selectable images to produce a fourth set ofmultiple selectable images (i.e. friends), which aggregates all of thepictures in a single set of multiple image cells. In a particularillustrative, non-limiting embodiment, the first user may configure thefourth set of multiple selectable images such that a first row ispopulated with images associated with “school friends,” a second row ispopulated with images associated with “sports friends,” and a third rowis populated with images associated with “work friends.”

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a second particular illustrative,non-limiting example of a graphical user interface (GUI) 1200 forpresenting media content, which may be accessed via a web browserexecuted on a device of the user. The GUI 1200 includes a window 1202that includes a list of social groups 1204 that have been defined by theuser and a set of buttons (Add, Edit, and Remove) 1206 for editing thelist. Additionally, the window 1202 includes a list of media content1208, including selectable options indicating which particular itemswithin the list are shared with the particular groups (i.e. friends orfamily). Additionally, the window 1202 includes a set of selectablebuttons 1210 to allow a user to alter the list of media content, such asby adding images, video, audio, other media content, or any combinationthereof, by editing the list, or removing items from the list.Additionally, the window 1202 includes a pull down menu 1212 to allowthe user to configure the organization of the multiple selectable cells.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the user may select a rolling(date order), where new media content is added, and existing mediacontent is shifted left to right and top down until the oldest item ispushed out of the multiple selectable cells. Alternatively, the mediacontent may be assembled within the multiple selectable cells in arandom order. In another embodiment, the media content may be assembledin rows based on the source of the media content, allowing the user toconfigure each row to receive media content from a source that isassociated with a particular member of the social network (e.g.,assigned rows). Other arrangements, such as a user-specifiedarrangement, may also be used.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of asystem 1300 to present media content. The system 1300 includes a remotecontrol device 1306 that can communication with a set-top box device1304 (which may be similar to the set-top box device 306 in FIG. 3) tocontrol a display device 1302. The set-top box device 1304 may receive anotification of new media content and may provide a popup notification1308 to indicate that new media content is available from a member of asocial network associated with the user. The user may access the mediacontent by interacting with the popup notification 1308 shown at thedisplay device 1302, by selecting a key on the remote control device1306, such as the key 1310.

In a particular illustrative embodiment, the set-top box device 1304 maycollect data related to the media content from a source associated witha member of the user's social network, generate the popup notification1308, and provide the popup notification 1308 to the display device 1302within a video stream. In another particular embodiment, thenotification may be received from a content management source via anetwork, such as the network 304 in FIG. 3, and may be provided to thedisplay device 1302 by the set-top box device 1304.

In conjunction with the configuration of structure described herein, thesystem and method disclosed provide an interface to disseminate mediacontent to members of a social network and to receive shared mediacontent from members of the social network. A content management system,such as a web server, a set-top box device, or another device, mayprovide a first view including multiple image cells to a destinationdevice of a first user, where at least one cell includes an image. Thecontent management system may automatically collect a second image froma third party website associated with a second user and may provide asecond view to the destination device. The second view includes themultiple image cells and includes the second image. In a particularillustrative embodiment, the content management system may provide agraphical user interface (GUI) to a destination device to receive anidentifier of another user to form a social network associated with auser account of a first user, where each identifier within the socialnetwork is associated with one or more websites accessible to a userother than the first user. The content management system mayautomatically collect data related to the media content from a selectedthird party website based on a selected identifier. The contentmanagement system may generate a second GUI including multiple imagecells, where at least one cell includes an image that is related to thecollected data or to the media content. In an illustrative embodiment,the content management system may be a set-top box device or may providea notification to a set-top box device, which may provide an indicatorrelated to the multiple image cells to a display device, such as atelevision.

Referring to FIG. 14, an illustrative embodiment of a general computersystem is shown and is designated 1400. The computer system 1400 caninclude a set of instructions that can be executed to cause the computersystem 1400 to perform any one or more of the methods or computer basedfunctions disclosed herein, such as monitoring media content associatedwith members of a social network to identify new media content andaggregating the new media content into a matrix, a table, or otherarrangement of image cells within a graphical user interface. Thecomputer system 1400 may operate as a standalone device or may beconnected, e.g., using a network, to other computer systems orperipheral devices.

In a networked deployment, the computer system may operate in thecapacity of a server or as a client user computer in a server-clientuser network environment, or as a peer computer system in a peer-to-peer(or distributed) network environment. The computer system 1400 can alsobe implemented as or incorporated into various devices, such as apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile device, a palmtop computer, a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer, a communications device, a wirelesstelephone, a land-line telephone, a control system, a camera, a scanner,a facsimile machine, a printer, a pager, a personal trusted device, aweb appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any other machinecapable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise)that specify actions to be taken by that machine. In a particularembodiment, the computer system 1400 can be implemented using electronicdevices that provide voice, video or data communication. Further, whilea single computer system 1400 is illustrated, the term “system” shallalso be taken to include any collection of systems or sub-systems thatindividually or jointly execute a set, or multiple sets, of instructionsto perform one or more computer functions.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, the computer system 1400 may include aprocessor 1402, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU), or both. Moreover, the computer system 1400 caninclude a main memory 1404 and a static memory 1406, that cancommunicate with each other via a bus 1408. As shown, the computersystem 1400 may further include a video display unit 1410, such as aliquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), aflat panel display, a solid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT).Additionally, the computer system 1400 may include an input device 1412,such as a keyboard, and a cursor control device 1414, such as a mouse.The computer system 1400 can also include a disk drive unit 1416, asignal generation device 1418, such as a speaker or remote control, anda network interface device 1420.

In a particular embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 14, the disk drive unit1416 may include a computer-readable medium 1422 in which one or moresets of instructions 1424, e.g. software, can be embedded. Further, theinstructions 1424 may embody one or more of the methods or logic asdescribed herein. In a particular embodiment, the instructions 1424 mayreside completely, or at least partially, within the main memory 1404,the static memory 1406, and/or within the processor 1402 duringexecution by the computer system 1400. The main memory 1404 and theprocessor 1402 also may include computer-readable media.

In an alternative embodiment, dedicated hardware implementations, suchas application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arraysand other hardware devices, can be constructed to implement one or moreof the methods described herein. Applications that may include theapparatus and systems of various embodiments can broadly include avariety of electronic and computer systems. One or more embodimentsdescribed herein may implement functions using two or more specificinterconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and datasignals that can be communicated between and through the modules, or asportions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Accordingly, thepresent system encompasses software, firmware, and hardwareimplementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein may be implemented by software programsexecutable by a computer system. Further, in an exemplary, non-limitedembodiment, implementations can include distributed processing,component/object distributed processing, and parallel processing.Alternatively, virtual computer system processing can be constructed toimplement one or more of the methods or functionality as describedherein.

The present disclosure contemplates a computer-readable medium thatincludes instructions 1424 or receives and executes instructions 1424responsive to a propagated signal, so that a device connected to anetwork 1426 can communicate voice, video or data over the network 1426.Further, the instructions 1424 may be transmitted or received over thenetwork 1426 via the network interface device 1420.

While the computer-readable medium is shown to be a single medium, theterm “computer-readable medium” includes a single medium or multiplemedia, such as a centralized or distributed database, and/or associatedcaches and servers that store one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable medium” shall also include any medium that is capableof storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution bya processor or that cause a computer system to perform any one or moreof the methods or operations disclosed herein.

In a particular non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, thecomputer-readable medium can include a solid-state memory such as amemory card or other package that houses one or more non-volatileread-only memories. Further, the computer-readable medium can be arandom access memory or other volatile re-writable memory. Additionally,the computer-readable medium can include a magneto-optical or opticalmedium, such as a disk or tapes or other storage device to capturecarrier wave signals such as a signal communicated over a transmissionmedium. A digital file attachment to an e-mail or other self-containedinformation archive or set of archives may be considered a distributionmedium that is equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, thedisclosure is considered to include any one or more of acomputer-readable medium or a distribution medium and other equivalentsand successor media, in which data or instructions may be stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsthat may be implemented in particular embodiments with reference toparticular standards and protocols, the disclosed embodiments are notlimited to such standards and protocols. For example, standards forInternet and other packet switched network transmission (e.g., TCP/IP,UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) represent examples of the state of the art. Suchstandards are periodically superseded by faster or more efficientequivalents having essentially the same functions. Accordingly,replacement standards and protocols having the same or similar functionsas those disclosed herein are considered equivalents thereof.

The illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of the variousembodiments. The illustrations are not intended to serve as a completedescription of all of the elements and features of apparatus and systemsthat utilize the structures or methods described herein. Many otherembodiments may be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe disclosure. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from thedisclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure.Additionally, the illustrations are merely representational and may notbe drawn to scale. Certain proportions within the illustrations may beexaggerated, while other proportions may be reduced. Accordingly, thedisclosure and the figures are to be regarded as illustrative ratherthan restrictive.

One or more embodiments of the disclosure may be referred to herein,individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely forconvenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of thisapplication to any particular invention or inventive concept. Moreover,although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any subsequent arrangementdesigned to achieve the same or similar purpose may be substituted forthe specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover anyand all subsequent adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b) and is submitted with the understanding that it will not beused to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, various features may begrouped together or described in a single embodiment for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter may be directed toless than all of the features of any of the disclosed embodiments. Thus,the following claims are incorporated into the Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as defining separately claimedsubject matter.

The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall withinthe true spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, to the maximumextent allowed by law, the scope of the present invention is to bedetermined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the followingclaims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited bythe foregoing detailed description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of presenting media content, the methodcomprising: receiving a command to present multiple image cells to adestination device of a first user after an alert is sent to a deviceassociated with the first user, wherein the alert includes anotification of available updated content, and wherein the command isbased on user input responsive to the alert; sending a first viewincluding multiple image cells to the destination device of the firstuser in response to the command, wherein the first view does not includeone or more images that correspond to the available updated content;automatically collecting at least one image corresponding to theavailable updated content, wherein a particular image of the at leastone image is collected from a particular website associated with asecond user; and sending a second view to the destination device afterthe first view, the second view including the multiple image cells withthe at least one image that corresponds to the available updatedcontent.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the alertto the device associated with the first user to inform the first userthat updated media content for at least one second user is available,wherein the alert is an e-mail notification, a pop-up notification, avoicemail message notification, a text message notification, an instantmessage notification, or any combination thereof.
 3. The method of claim1, further comprising receiving permission of the first user beforeinserting the at least one image into the multiple image cells of thesecond view.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple image cellsare arranged in date order.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein themultiple image cells comprise rows and columns of image cells, andwherein each row is associated with a website location.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first user and the second user are members of acomputer-based social network.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: archiving a first image to be replaced by the particularimage; replacing the first image with the particular image; andgenerating the second view.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprisingstoring the particular image and a pointer to the particular websiteassociated with the particular image to facilitate retrieval of theavailable updated content.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprisingaccessing a Really Simple Syndication feed associated with theparticular website to identify updated media content and retrieving athird image from the particular website associated with the second userin response to identifying the updated media content.
 10. A method ofpresenting media content, the method comprising: sending, from a server,a first graphical user interface to a destination device associated witha first user, the first graphical user interface including an element toreceive one or more identifiers of one or more other users forming asocial network, each identifier within the social network associatedwith one or more websites accessible to the one or more other users;automatically collecting, at the server, data related to available mediacontent for the destination device from a selected website of the one ormore websites; sending an alert from the server to a device associatedwith the first user when the data indicates updated media content isavailable for the destination device; receiving, at the server, acommand to present updated media content to the destination device,wherein the command is based on user input responsive to the alert;sending, from the server, a second graphical user interface to thedestination device in response to the command, wherein the secondgraphical user interface includes multiple image cells, and wherein themultiple image cells do not correspond to the updated media content; andupdating the second graphical user interface to change at least one cellof the multiple image cells to include an image that corresponds to theupdated media content.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the device isthe destination device.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the datacomprises a link to an audio file, a link to a multimedia file, or anycombination thereof.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the socialnetwork comprises the first user associated with the destination deviceand a second user associated with the one or more websites.
 14. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the multiple image cells are arranged in auser-specified order.
 15. A processor-readable storage device includinginstructions executable by a processor to perform operations comprising:sending an alert to a device associated with a first user when collecteddata indicates updated media content is available; receiving a commandto present updated media content to a destination device, wherein thecommand is based on user input responsive to the alert; generating afirst graphical user interface to present media content to a displaydevice coupled to the destination device in response to the command, thefirst graphical user interface comprising multiple selectable cellsarranged in at least two rows, wherein a first row includes imagesrelated to media content from the first user, wherein each additionalrow includes images related to media content from a source other thanthe first user, and wherein content of the multiple selectable cellsdoes not correspond to the updated media content; and after sending thefirst graphical user interface, changing at least one of the multipleselectable cells to include an image that correspond to the updatedmedia content.
 16. The processor-readable storage device of claim 15,wherein a first selection of a particular selectable cell causes a firstdisplay window to display media content associated with the particularselectable cell, and wherein a second selection of the particularselectable cell causes a second display window to display aconfiguration menu.
 17. The processor-readable storage device of claim16, wherein the configuration menu comprises one or more selectable menuoptions to adjust an arrangement of images within the multipleselectable cells.
 18. The processor-readable storage device claim 16,wherein the configuration menu includes a freeze cell control option toprohibit changes to an image associated with the particular selectablecell.
 19. The processor-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein thefirst selection comprises a left click operation associated with apointing device and wherein the second selection comprises a right clickassociated with the pointing device.
 20. The processor-readable storagedevice of claim 15, wherein the multiple selectable cells are arrangedin a matrix.